LA Madness
by Misora-Massacre
Summary: Mello had past troubles with the Mafia in California. Matt had past troubles with a gang in California. Now, they're going on vacation to Los Angeles, where both the Mafia and gang are thirsty for revenge. What could possibly go wrong? .-.
1. Chapter 1

"No. No, don't do this to me!" Matt was completely frantic. "Please, don't die on me now! We've been through so much together! I don't know what I'd do without you! You can't just die after everything we've worked for! Please, I'm begging you-"

"Oh my fucking God, Matt, shut the hell up!" Mello exclaimed from his bedroom. Matt pressed the pause button on his game controller and pouted. "I'm sorry, but I think it's only fare that I mourn over Shadow's death!"

Mello got out of his bedroom with a chocolate hanging from his mouth. He leaned against the threashold, glaring at Matt sitting in his beanbag chair in front of the couch. "Matt, you act like this every time you're facing a difficult boss. I could barely stand you when you kept screaming 'Damn you, Genesis! How dare you destroy my Zacky-kun?' at your PSP. Like, seriously? Don't you have anything better to do?"

Matt rolled his eyes pulled his goggles over his eyes. "Well, at least I don't spend all day stuffing my face with chocolate," he murmured stubbornly. Mello looked at him offensively. "Are you calling me _fat?_" he demanded. Matt smirked. "I was going more along the lines of 'lazy-ass mo fo', but you can see it however you please," he said, satisfied with the look on Mello's face. The blonde grabbed a pillow that was placed on the chair next to him and threw it at Matt, who dodged it. "I see you still can't aim anything else other than a gun, huh?" he smiled. Mello was about to counter that, but there was a knock on the door. He sighed and went over to and answered.

"What up, blondie?" Beyond Birthday said, letting himself in, follwed by his girlfriend Vivian. "Excuse me, but did I give you permission to enter?" Mello asked. "Pssh, you actually think I care about what you have to say," Beyond said in a humored tone. Vivi sighed. "So, you guys know my cousin, Victor, right?" she asked. Matt nodded. "The one that lives over there in California, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Well, he invited me to go over there and he suggested that I should bring all of my friends soooooo..." She grinned as she let her voice trail. Matt's face brightened. "Holy crap, are you saying that we get to go to California?" he asked in excitement, dropping his game controller. "Uh huh!" Vivi replied cheerfully. Matt punched the air energetically. "Oh, hell yeah! I haven't been to L.A. in like for_ever! _We have to go, Mells! C'mon, can we? Pleaaaaaasseeeee?"

In all honesty, California was the last place Matt wanted to be. He had to much of a history there and, as he often reminded himsef, history repeats itself. But, on the other hand, he didn't want to disappoint Vivi, who had been like a little sister to him and Mello back at the orphanage. His fake act of excitement was convincing, and Mello sighed.

"I suppose," he said with a hint of a smile. He had past troubles in Los Angeles, what with the mafia and everything. But there were long gone, and he didn't think he'd have to worry about them. Besides, he assumed that Beyond was going as well. Beyond had the worst history there, and of course Mello knew every single detail of it, since having written about it.

"Great!" Vivi smiled. "We're leaving in five days, all right?"

"Awesome," Matt said, returning the smile.

And five days later, they all left, along with Light Yagami and Misa Amane. Totally obvlious to what was going to happen over the next month.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part I: The Mafia's Revenge**

"So, this is where I live," explained Vivi's cousin, 21 year old Victor Velasquez. He turned to look at Beyond, who seemed rather uncomfortable. "You okay, bro?" he asked curiously.

Beyond's eyes shot up in his direction and he nodded quickly. "Yeah, fine," he said curtly. Mello and Matt chuckled to themselves. Since Vivi was an orphan, it had spared Beyond the trouble of having to introduce himself to her parents. Unfortunately, Victor seemed as protective of Vivi as any father would be, which probably made Beyond a bit nervous. Matt imagined how he would've explained to him that he was dating Vivian.

_"So, Victor, right? I know I have a kinda bad background. You know, the L.A.B.B. Murder Cases? And I know that 2 out of the 3 victims were female. And I know that when I first met Vivi I kinda only planned for her to be another murder victim. But...I'd really like your approval of us going out."_

_ "..."_

_Stuuuppeeedddd, _Matt thought to himself humorously. He turned to Mello. "Hey, wanna check out some of the old places we used to hang out at when we lived here? Y'know, to see if they changed or are still the same or whatever.

Despite his slight paranoia about being back in Los Angeles, the idea brightened Mello's mood. He and Matt had spent many great times in California. Though they might have been filled with slight tension, they were still carefree. "Yeah, I'd like that," he agreed. He turned to Vivi and Victor. "You guys don't mind, do you?"

Vivi shook her head. "You already know the place. It's fine, go ahead. Misa and I were planning on shopping while Light and Victor'd just hang out and pay for our stuff," she said with a humorous wink. "You should meet us at this one resturaunt at, like, six, though, so we can talk and you guys can get to know Victor better. I'll text you the address, kay, Matty?"

Matt smiled and adjusted his goggles. "Can't wait. See you guys later then!" After quickly tossing their suitcases into their temporary lodgings, the two friends were off to recollect the memories that were lying all around the Los Angeles area.

"So. You say you've seen him in Los Angeles, is that right?"

A man named Ricky Furtado nodded, tightning the bandana around his head. "So what we do, huh? Want us to shoot him down or sumthin'? Bomb his ass like he did yours?"

"No," the other man said in a thick Russian accent. He went to his drawer and opened it to find a fully-loaded handgun. He took it out and examined it carefully, as if it might have been tampered with. He sighed and layed it on the desk. "I'm afraid that if we do that, his death will be quick and painless. I want him to feel all of the pain and suffering we have felt because of him. You, me, the others, and all of the men who's lives were lost in that explosian. Their death's will be avenged, and we will finally get _our_ revenge. Yes, Mello must pay for everything he's done."

Furtado looked away, a bit disapointed that he didn't get to do what he had originally planned. He always did enjoy shooting people who were totally unexpecting. Torture just wasn't his thing. But, ever since the leader died in the explosion and Nikolai, his most strong, powerful, and trusted man had replaced him, he made sure not to cross any lines with him. He wasn't like the old leader; he was more laid back and confident. His dirty blonde hair tied in a tight, short pony tail and scars all over from the previous event made him seem more normal than the other boss, who was extremely strong built, for some strange reason. And still, his nonchalance made him seem all the more threatening.

"Furtado." Nikolai handed Ricky the gun. "I need you to keep an eye on Mello for a while. Tell me what his purpous for being here is, whether it's buisness or pleasure. Tell me who he's attracted to, anyone we can use against him. Tell me any patterns you see in his daily activites. Report every day to me. Tell me _everything_. And only use the gun for emergancies. Can I trust you?"

"Yeah, no worries, Boss," Furtado replied, placing the gun in his belt holster and covering it with his shirt. Nikolai smiled with statisfaction at being called boss. Even though he felt remorse towards the former Mafia leader, he was somewhat relieved that he was dead and left him in charge.

He waved dismissively towards the door. "Good. Now, leave. Don't fail me."


	3. Chapter 3

"Aww, this sucks."

Matt and Mello stood in front of a vacant building. It had paint peeling off the walls, minus all of the fresh grafitti. some of the lightbulbs had been shattered, leaving a spray of glass on the cement below. The sign only had a few letters that were eligable. This place had once been a calm cafe that the two friends used to relax in. It had been one of their favorite hangouts when they used to live in Los Angeles. Now it was nothing but an insignificant building wasting the space of what would probably soon become a bar or nightclub.

Matt lighted another cigarrette and looked sadly at their former hangout place. "I loved this place. They had some of the best coffee; screw Starbucks. Though, I can't really say I'm suprised. This wasn't the most popular place out there. Of course they were gonna have to close it down eventually."

Mello nodded in agreement. "Looking at the place in the condition it's in makes me feel old for some reason," he said with a frown. It had only been a few years since they've last been here, and yet it seemed like it's been a decade.

Suddenly, Mello felt an uneasy feeling in the atmosphere. He felt eyes on him, watching his every movement. He looked at Matt, who didn't seem to notice anything. Mello sighed. _You're letting paranoia get the best of you again, Mihael,_ he thought.

Still, he couldn't shake off the feeling. He looked around, searching for any suspicious characters. There were several people passing by in the busy streets, but they all seemed somewhat normal.

"You okay, Mells?" Mello looked up to see Matt looking at him with concern. Mello nodded.

"Yeah, fine. Wanna check out some others places before we meet back with Vivi?" he suggested.

Matt took out his phone and checked the time. "Sure, we have enough time for one more place I think. Where to?"

Mello shrugged. He didn't really care, as long as he could get out of this exact area. He wasn't being extremely cautious, but he knew he'd have to if that feeling continued where ever they went. "What other places did we used to go?"

Matt looked up at the sky thoughtfully, going through all of his memories to see if they missed anything. "Well, lets see...we have the bookstore we used to go to when we were feeling like nerds or to do research or whatever. That sound good?"

The idea of the bookstore _did_ sound good. How much danger can linger within a bookstore, excluding the ones that the actual books contained? It seemed like a good idea to him, despite the small chance that something bad might actually happen. "Yeah, it does," Mello said with a nod, and they both made their way there.

Looking at them from afar, Furtado called Nikolai on his Droid. "Yeah, man, I see him right now. He's hanging out with some guy. They look pretty close."

"Define 'close'."

"I don't know, like, they're just talking and laughing like they knew each other for a long time. Like, what's it called, he's all just standing really close to him and the guy's just really laidback. Yeah, I think he's like Mello's best friend or somethin'."

For some reason, Furtado could tell that Nikolai was smiling on the other end. "Best friend? He actually managed to maintain someone that likes him?"

Furtado nodded. "I guess. I mean, they're all acting friendly and shit so...yeah."

Nikolai chuckled. "Do you know how big of an advantage that is to us? You're services aren't needed anymore for today. I'll send someone over to replace you."

"What? Why?"

"Calm down," Nikolai said casually. "Just for today. It's not permanent. You see, I already have my suspicions of who Mello's so called 'friend' is. I just need someone who might be able to confirm his identity, that's all."

Furtado understood, but he still felt offended that Nikolai was replacing him, if not only for just a day. "Whatever you say, Boss."


	4. Chapter 4

The text messege was completely unexpected. Mello frowned and sighed as he went to retrieve his phone from his bed. He was feeling wary from roaming L.A. all day and just wanted to rest. He tiredly unlocked his phone and checked the messege.

There was no caller I.D.; it only said 'Unknown'. At first, he didn't know who it might have been from. Mello examined the text carefully to see if he could figure it out. It was in Russian, just in case Mello wasn't alone and there were others who didn't understand the launguage. Once he had read half of the messege, a sudden pang of realization struck him. Of course; it could only be from one of the people from the mafia.

Translated, the messege read, "Mello. It has been a while since we've last spoken to eachother. I heard that you've come to visit the state after being in Japan for so long. I also know that you've brought friends along with you. You woudn't want anything bad to happen to them, would you?

"I want you to meet me in the alleyway right before you head into downtown. And, if you don't mind, we'd prefer if you would come alone, unarmed. I'm looking foward to seeing you again, Mello." That was the end of it.

Mello stared at the messege a little longer before gritted his teeth and threw it at the floor angrily. He knew he had to go. He knew how tough the mafia were. But how could he leave? Matt would ask him where he was going, and he wasn't sure he could lie to him about this. Mello dug thorugh his suitcase until he found what he was looking for; a bottle of sleeping pills. Take one of these and you'll be out for eight to ten hours. Crushing a pill into powder with his fist, Mello sweeped it into a bottle of water and took it where Matt was.

As usual, Matt was playing a video game. His right hand was fidgeting with the game controller while his left hand was typing on the keyboard of his laptop. Mello walked tentatively towards Matt. Noticing him, Matt paused his game and stood up.

"Hey, I thought you were going to be asleep by now?" he said.

Mello shrugged. " Well, I heard you yelling at the TV so I thought I'd bring you some water. Besides, you look kinda dehydrated."

Matt wiped his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Heh, thanks," he said, then took a big gulp of the water.

"Well, imma go back to my room. Just wanted to check up on you," Mello said, and awkwardly stepped back to his room. He waited until after he heard multiple yawns from Matt. Mello slowly opened the door to see Matt sleeping on the couch, TV still on. Quietly, Mello left the building, on his way to see the mafia once again.

Upon entering the alleyway, Mello looked around suspiciously, as if someone were watching him from behin. Before he could speculate a little more, he saw the mafia leader. "Ah, good evening Mello," he greeted with a thick Russian accent. "I was starting to doubt that you would show up."

Mello scowled. "What's my reason for being here right now, Nickolai?" he asked. Nickolai put his hands in his pockets. "Is that any way to speak to an old friend?" he asked in a humored tone.

"Answer the damn question," Mello ordered.

Nickolai chuckled. "Let me just check to see if you really did come without any weapons." He snapped his fingers, signaling for two other men to come from behind Mello. The blonde sighed and put his hands against the wall next to him.

"Feet apart," one of the men commanded, a Cuban with sleek black hair. Mello did as told. As soon as they confirmed that he had no weapons on thim, they stood on either dies of Mello.

"Now then," Nickolai continued. "You're here because ever since you've joined the mafia, we've been dying one by one. And then, instead of fixing this problem, you abandoned us during the explosion, leaving us for dead. Tell me, why exactly did you do that?"

Mello looked at him bitterly. "You already played your part. Therefore, I didn't need you anymore," he answered steadily.

"So what were we to you? Pawns for your little game?" Nickolai asked.

Mello said his answer straight out. "Yes."

The mafia leader frowned. "I see," he said. "Well. If you didn't know already, we don't like to be taken advantage of. And, out mafia isn't well known for being forgiving to those who have betrayed us. Now then..." He nodded slightly to the other man, a Japanese. He nodded back, then grabbed Mello's arms behind his back and slammed him into the ground, taking the breath out of him. The Cuban mafia member crouched down and slammed Mello's head into the hard concrete six times until, finally, Mello blacked out.

When he woke up, Mello recognized the place he was in immediately. This was the location of the place where he and the mafia had help Sayu Yagami for ransom in exchange for the Death Note. Mello looked up wearily and spotted Nickolai, smirking at him. "It's about time you woke up," he said. Mello tried to get up, but relized that he was bound to a chair. Nickolai laughed. "Quit your struggling, Mello; it's no use."

Mello tried to respond to Nickolai, but found out that he'd been gagged with duct tape. Nickolai shook his head, still smiling. "Mello, I've left out a few details," he said. "For revenge, we want you to come to the alleyway every night until you go back to Japan. Every night, we will beat you into a pulp, and you are to do nothing about it. And, if you want to save your skin, we will have no choice but to kill the one you left the mafia for. Now, if you agree to these terms, nod."

Mello knew he didn't have a choice; Matt's life was at stake here. Unwillingly, Mello nodded. Nickolai grinned wickedly and ripped off the tape off of Mello's mouth, causing Mello to yell. The two men that Mello had seen earlier untied his hands and each gripped one of his arms. Once Mello was completely immobolized by the men, Nickolai punched Mello in his stomach with a strong force. He kept doing so until Mello coughed up blood. Nickolai laughed as he threw more punches and kicks. Just when Mello felt as if every bone in his body was broken, the two men roughly sat him back down on the chair.

Nickolai grinned. "You see? That wasn't so bad, was it? Oh, wait. You have a little something right here." He started to wipe some blood off that was trickling from the corner of Mello's mouth. Mello barely had enough energy to reply.

"You'll be here tomorrow, right?" Nickolai asked. Mello said nothing. Frowning, Nickolai grabbed a fistfull of the blonde's hair and yanked so Mello would be looking straight into his eyes. "I'll ask you again: You'll be here tomorrow, correct?"

Mello took awhile to answer. "Yes," he whispered. Nickolai smiled again.

"You can go home now, Mello. But please, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone about what had just happened. Besides, we wouldn't want to cause any distress amoung your friends, now, would we?" He let go of Mello's hair, then turned to the Japanese member. "Please take him home," Nickolai said. The Japanese nodded, took out a baseball bat, and swung it at Mello's head, making him unconcious once more.


	5. Chapter 5

Matt woke up with a huge yawn. He looked up at the television warily, which had apparently been left on all night. He smiled slightly when he saw that he had passed the level he was on, despite how sleepy he was. He stretched and went to look for Mello. The gamer stopped by the door and knocked. "Yo, Mells. You awake?" he called. There was no response. Matt sighed and let himself in. He looked around and saw that the stash of chocolate he managed to get had remained untouched. Matt looked quizically at them. Didn't Mello say he was going to eat some?

He looked around and saw Mello lying on the bed, on top of the blankets. Matt was about to think how adorable Mello seemed until he got a closer look at him. He drew in a sharp breath. Mello looked the opposite of adorable at the moment; "brutally beaten" and "fucked up" would have been a better way to describe him. "Mello," he said. Mello didn't reply. "Mello?" Matt repeated, and shook his friend's arm. He held his index finger right below Mello's nose to see if he was alive. Matt felt him breathing very faintly and sighed with some relief. At least it meant he wasn't dead. Just unconcious. Matt clicked his tounge, thinking of what he should do. He sighed and headed for the living room.

Light and Misa were the only ones there. They were both on the computer webchatting with L and Mikami. Since L refused to leave the Kira Case for a few weeks, he stayed in Japan while the others went to L.A. Matt didn't know Mikami's reasons for staying. Maybe he couldn't afford it? But he was a well-paid prosecuter, right? Matt shook the thoughts away, knowing that that wasn't important right now. "Hey," he said.

Everyone looked in his direction. "Oh, hello Matt," L greeted. Matt waved at him, then got straight down to business.

"Guys, I'm worried about Mello," he said.

"What is it?" Misa asked worriedly.

"Well," Matt started. "When I woke up, I went to check up on him. He was covered in bruises, scratches, all that good stuff and more."

Misa reacted immediately to this. "Is it that stupid lady that got pissed at you guys the other day? I swear she's such a jerk, having the nerve to do such a thing!" she exclaimed. "Calm down!" Matt said, not wanting to deal with one of Misa's tantrums. "I doubt it was her, or else there would have been iron marks on him."

Misa's anger was replaced with concern. "What would've happened then?" she asked. "I don't know," Matt replied with a hopeless shrug.

"Maybe you should ask him," Misa suggested.

"Ask me what?" Mello asked, who had just entered the room. It seemed like he had covered all of his scars and bruises wtih some sort of concealer.

"Um, how you're feeling," Misa replied quickly.

"...Good, I guess. Why do you ask?" Mello asked awkardly, as though nothing were wrong. Misa started to get nervous.

"You tell him, Matt," she said. Matt frowned and faced Mello.

"Well, when I saw you earlier, you looked kinda beaten," he said.

"Pssh, it's nothing," Mello murmered.

"Please tell me what happened, Mells. If it had anything to do with that chic Vivi beat up..." Misa started. A few days earlier, their friend Vivi had gotten into a fight with one of the girls that lived around there.

Mello rolled his eyes. "God, you guys are so paranoid. 'Sides, why would that whore go after me out of all people anyway?" he asked.

Misa shrugged. "Maybe it's because you're the weakest-looking who's ever left this house," she replied.

Mello gasped. "Me? _Weak?_ What about that freakin' lightbulb guy, huh? You're telling me he looks stronger than I do?" he demanded.

Light looked offended. "I am not weak! Isn't that right, Ryuzaki?" he said.

L nodded. "It's true. He's an excellent fighter," he replied in Light's defense.

"Do I really look that weak?" Mello asked.

"Probably," Misa said. "But back to the point. What happened?"

"Nothing happened," Mello said.

"Liar," Matt muttered.

"Mello, I'm going to go super paranoid if you don't tell us what happened," Misa threatened.

"And I told you that nothing happened," Mello replied.

"We're well aware of what you told us, Mello. We just want to know the truth," Mikami said.

"It was nothing, alright? Get off my back already!" Mello yelled, then stormed out the door. Beyond, Near, and Vivi entered around that time and settled in the backround. "Why is he so stubborn?" Misa complained.

"I don't know..." Matt said.

"If it was that whore, I'm gonna leave her dead for sure..." Misa mumbled.

"From what we know, Vivi practically left her half-dead," Mikami said.

"I'll finish it up," Misa said.

"Well we shouldn't do anything rash...yet..." Light said. Misa nodded in agreement. "Right. For now, we have to find out what really happened," she said.

"But how?" Matt asked. Beyond decided to join in on the conversation.

"I suggest we raid any of his recent emails, texts, and calls," he said. Some realization showed on Misa's face.

"Oh yeah, huh. Last time we were in the chatroom, Mello logged off after he got a mysterious text messege," she said. Beyond bit his thumbnail.

"Matt, do you think you could snatch his phone?" he asked.

"Well, maybe," Matt answered unsurely.

"Does anyone know where Mello went before Matt saw...his state?" Near asked.

"I would've noticed if he went anywhere," Matt replied.

"But you fell asleep early, remember?" Light said. Matt gritted his teeth and went to where Mello had slept to look for his phone.

"All I remember is seeing him enter an alley. But why did he go?" Near asked.

"Maybe whoever did this to him threatened to kidnap one of us if he didn't do as told," Vivi said.

"Oh crap..." Light muttered.

Matt came back in a rush. "Guys, I found his phone," he said as he rappidly started looking through it. Suddenly he stopped.

"Did you find it?" L asked. Matt nodded.

"What does it say?" Misa asked. Matt shrugged.

"I don't know; it's in Russian. But the name of the sender sounds framiliar..." Suddenly, he dropped the phone.

"Matt?" Misa said, alarmed.

"Who sent it?" Vivi asked.

"Near," Matt said, ignoring Vivi's question. "When Mello was still part of the mafia, where were they first located...?"

Near narrowed his eyebrows. "I thought that place exploaded already..." he said. Then he gasped in realization. "No. Not there," he said.

"What is it?" Mikami asked.

"Are you sure that they're there?" Near asked Matt.

"I'm not sure, but the chances are high," Matt replied.

"What's going on?" Light demanded. Near and Matt ignored him.

"You do realize that that place is very secluded and difficult to enter," Near reminded. "We have no choice, if it's for Mello," Vivi said quietly.

"But why would the mafia do this?" Matt asked, slamming is fist on a the wall angrily. "Perhaps it was to get back at Mello for leaving them...?" Near asked.

Beyond nodded. "That's what I came up with," he said.

Near turned to Light and the others, who had been oblivious to most of the converstation. "There might be a chance that Mello is being tortured in the place where your sister had been held for ransum," he told Light.

Light's eyes widened in fear. "No...not there..." he whispered, repeating the very same words Near had earlier.

"Yes. I hoped we wouldn't have anything to do with that place anymore," Near replied. "Well?" Vivi asked. "What are we going to do? Break in and kill everyone in there?" Mikami shook his head.

"It's too risky. Besides, as Near had mentioned earlier, it's too hard to enter anyway," he said.

"Maybe we could ask Mello?" Misa said.

"Would he tell us, though?" Light asked.

"How about tracking the call?" Vivi suggested. Matt shook his head hopelessly.

"No, it would be impossible. His phone is too protected; not even _I _could do that," he said.

Vivi thought for a moment, then turned to Light. "Light, you said that right before Matt logged off yesterday, he said he was sleepy, right?" she asked him.

"Well, yeah. He was," Light replied.

"Wait," Near said suddenly. "When exactly did you start to feel tired, Matt?"

Matt bit his lip. "Level 57?" he answered.

"Had it been sudden, or had you already been feeling tired for a while?" Near questioned. Matt shrugged.

"I don't know, sudden I guess? I just blamed it on long hours of gaming," he responded. "Near, are you suggesting that Mello might have placed something in whatever Matt had consumed to force him asleep?" L asked.

Near nodded. "It's a possibilty."

"No! Mells would never do that!" Matt argued.

"It might have been the only way he could leave without confronting you first," Near said.

"But...why...?" Matt asked, falling on the couch and running a hand through his hair. "Maybe he had to go alone," L said. "That oftens happens when dealing with a messege containing a threat." Matt closed his eyes and took his goggles off. He couldn't understand what was happening. Why was Mello really putting up with this? Why couldn't he tell him? There had to be a good reason, right? There was always one with Mello. But now, with Mello's strange behaviour, could he help him?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Holy. Scheiße. It's been a long time since I've updated this. Like, ohmigawd. Damn you high school, y u no let my finish fan fiction?! Dx Fuuuuu ^^; aha, well, here it is now, so I hope that I'll be able to update my fics more often!**

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"I don't know about this, guys…" Vivi said unsurely as they approached the building where Mello was being held captive.

Beyond had an irritable look as he glared down at Matt. "Same. Why the hell should I let you use _my_ girlfriend as your bait?" he said venomously.

Frowning, Matt sighed and lit a cigarette. "Hey, I don't wanna do it this way either, all right? I've known her longer and she's practically a little sister. But this is our best option," he explained impatiently, just wanting to rescue Mello already.

The serial killer scoffed. "If you have to use someone as a distraction why the hell not Miss Amane? She's blonde, I bet she'd totally be up to it."

"Mello's blond, too, asshole. Besides, Misa and Light are with Victor to distract him."

Vivi sighed. "Come on, you two, stop arguing already, please? We're losing precious time while Mello's in there."

Beyond groaned and nodded, checking his pockets to see if he had knives. "Fine, but I call dibs on whichever fucker lays their eyes on you first so I can gouge them out." He started sneaking up the building, the other two close behind him. Once they were all leaning against one of the walls, Matt and Beyond looked at Vivi, giving her a nod of confirmation. Vivi took in a deep breath and nodded back, walking to the door and knocking on it.

A slide opened on the top of the door, revealing hard brown eyes. "Da, who is it?" asked the man, carefully inspecting Vivi in her black mini skirt and halter top.

"I was called here by someone," she said, flipping her black hair behind her shoulder. She made sure to put an emphasis on her accent. The man stared at her and sighed, thinking her to be a typical prostitute one of the guys had paid for, and opened the door for her. She smiled flirtatiously at the man, all the while reminding herself that she wasn't a whore and had pride. "So, are you the guy who called for me?" she asked, running a hand up his shoulder to distract him from closing the door as Matt and Beyond successfully made their way in.

"No," the man said bluntly, obviously not interested. He beckoned for her to follow and started walking. She did so, Matt and Beyond close behind. The layout of the area was actually quite confusing, despite its plain exterior. It was no wonder why Mello had originally chose it.

Vivi casually scanned the place. She then noticed a door, unopened like any of the other ones. She was about to continue to make more conversation with the man when she suddenly Beyond pushed her back, holding a handkerchief over the man's nose. The man's eyes widened in surprise and he tried to struggle, but eventually the contents in the fabric had rendered him unconscious. Beyond sighed in relief and wiped his forehead.

"Finally, I didn't know how much longer I could stand him," he said, nonchalantly letting the man's body fall and kicking it to the side.

Vivi looked at him, mouth agape. "What the hell?! You realize this isn't exactly the safest place to be knocking people out here and there!"

"Actually," Matt said, getting out of his hiding place, "this probably is. I managed to hack into the system before we arrived and mapped a safe route for us. I fixed the cameras so they wouldn't be paying attention to our path."

"Fine," Vivi said after a moment's hesitation. "Anyway, did any of you find that room a bit suspicious? It's the only one that's closed…"

"Only one way to find out, isn't there," Matt muttered under his breath. He approached the door and checked the lock. An eye scanner was placed on the lock. He sighed and got out what looked like a one eye spectacle from a case in pocket and threw it at Beyond, who easily caught it. "Scan his eye with this."

Beyond nodded and did so, forcing the unconscious man's eye open and holding the spectacle up to it. After a moment, he handed it back to the gamer. Matt held the spectacle on his right eye and leaned in the scanner. He heard a buzzing noise, and then a successful beep as the door clicked. Matt nodded at Beyond and Vivi, then cautiously opened the door.

It was dark inside, making it hard to make out anything. Vivi got out her phone and held it up as a flashlight. The other two followed suit, only for Matt to almost drop his when he caught a gleam of blond hair.

"M-Mells…?" he said, voice wavering slightly as he saw Mello in his current state. He was tied to a chair, beaten and bloodied. Blood stained his hair, and he was barely breathing. Matt immediately went to him, starting to untie him, when the lights turned on. All three heads whipped in the door's direction. The tall Russian looked down on all of them, not at all amused.

"Well. Just when I thought no one was going to die today."


	7. Chapter 7

Naturally, Beyond was the first to attack.

Not giving a moment's hesitation, Beyond's eyes flashed red as he took out two switchblades from his back pockets, grinning manically. He could think of a thousand remarks that would be perfect to say in this situation, most of them cheesy as hell, but he knew from past experience that that was just a waste of time. Instead, he charged forward with his knives at ready, striking at Nikolai, who barely managed to dodge.

Beyond looked up above the mafia leader's head and frowned slightly. "Oi, Jeevas, get your ass over here and help out a little, will ya?" he said, making a move to plunge a knife in Nikolai's side. The other expertly tumbled to the side, avoiding the attack.

Matt examined the battle for a moment. It seemed that Nikolai was only taking evasive actions. At least for the time being, that is. He turned to look at Vivi over his shoulder. "Get Mello out of here," he commanded before he joined in on the battle.

Not hesitating, Vivi did as told and quickly undid Mello's restraints. Once they fell to the floor, she wrapped his arm around her neck and tried to lead him out. Nikolai noticed and tried to run in her direction to stop her, not wanting to let his precious prisoner escape. There was still much punishment that needed to be carried out.

"Don't fucking think so," Beyond said through gritted teeth. He slashed out at him with his knife, slicing part of the Russian's cheek. Nikolai winced and took out his gun, trying his best to aim at Beyond with all their action. Matt caught sight and got out his own gun, quickly cocking it and pulling the trigger at Nikolai. It missed, but it was enough of a distraction for Beyond to dodge the bullet coming out from Nikolai's gun.

Matt quickly went to Beyond's side, holding his gun up at Nikolai still. "How good are our chances?" he asked the serial killer underneath his breath.

"Of winning this fight, 72%," Beyond muttered in response. "86% chance that Vivian will be able to get Mello out of here and to safety. A 21% chance that we'll both make it out of here without having to have any other irritating encounters. 3% chance that Nikolai will die today or any time soon."

"Damn," Matt said with a frown. "Would it be best to flee then? If we really have no way of defeating—"

"What are you two muttering to yourselves about?" Nikolai asked irritably. He reloaded his gun and cocked it, pointing it at the two of them. "You should really pay more attention to the battle, da?"

"On the count of three, we split up," Beyond whispered to Matt. "We'll run past both sides of him and exit the building as fast as we can. Understood?"

"Yeah…"

"One…" Beyond held up his knife, making it look to Nikolai that he was about to attack him. "Two…" Matt got into a slight starting stance to help when it was time to sprint. "Three."

Both ran as fast as they could. Nikolai spun around quickly, then cursed in Russian and ran after them. He shouted out orders to others to chase after them, shut the doors, anything to stop them from getting away.

"This way!" Beyond called out to Matt, turning a sharp corner. Matt frowned and followed, hoping Beyond knew what he was doing. He remembered seeing Beyond studying the place's map earlier, he probably had the entire thing memorized down pat to the very last crumple in the paper itself.

Luckily, they came near a window that didn't seem all that hard to open. Beyond unlatched it and pulled it up, quickly jumping out of it with Matt following suit. "We split up from here!" Beyond yelled, panting slightly as he ran. "Meet me back at Victor's place in an hour!" Matt nodded, and they both went their separate ways.

/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/

Mello felt himself coming out of unconsciousness, though his eyelids felt too heavy to open. He felt the presence of others in the room, wherever he was. He tried to move, but his muscles hurt like hell. There was a gentle shake of his arms, followed by a soft voice. "Mells?"

He recognized that voice anywhere. With much effort, Mello opened his eyes to find emerald ones staring back at him. "M-Matt…?" he said, voice cracking.

Matt offered a supportive smile. "How're you feeling?" he asked, carefully stroking Mello's hair.

"I…bad…" the blond responded honestly, though he felt much better now that Matt was here. "Listen….I…I'm sorry, for drugging you, lying…How did you even find out to come after me?"

The gamer gave him a wry smile. "I'm a Wammy boy, of course I'd find out sooner or later." He gently kissed Mello's forehead. "Don't keep shit like that away from me again. You know that we can find a way out of anything. Trust me a little more."

Mello was silent, then smiled faintly. "Right…Thanks…" He was about to prop himself against his elbows, but he flinched. Matt frowned and put a finger to the other's mouth.

"Get some rest," he said quietly.

Mello sighed and rolled his eyes, although he relaxed more and nodded. Matt smiled and began to turn to leave the room, but was stopped by Mello's calling him. "Hey…You mind sleeping here with me…?"

Matt chuckled and glanced at him. "Course," he said, carefully climbing into bed next to him. Ever so gently, so as not to reopen any of Mello's wounds, Matt wrapped strong, comforting arms around him. Mello closed his eyes and rested his head against the other's chest, snuggling slightly. Matt smiled. "You should act cute like this all the time."

"Shut the hell up."

"Still so vicious, though~"

Mello smirked slightly. "Keep that up and I'll kick your ass when I'm back on my feet," he said.

"Whatever you say," Matt said teasingly, and closed his eyes, pulling Mello close. Both of their breathing evened, and they fell into a nice, peaceful sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part II: Consequences of Betrayal**

Matt walked on the sidewalk tiredly, swinging a plastic bag around. He looked up at the moon and sighed. _Mello's probably worrying about where I am,_ he thought. He got out his phone from his pocket to check the time. "11:47...?" he read. "Damn, how long have I been out?" He put his phone back in his pocket and continued walking. That's when he heard a noise.

Matt looked around suspiciously. The streets, parks, and everything else were empty. There was no one to be seen. And yet, the feeling that someone was watching him lingered. Finally, he stopped walking. "Who's out there?" he asked. There was no response. He frowned and continued to walk into an alleyway. He thought that if he did, his stalker would reveal themselves. And so they did.

He walked to the middle of the alleyway and stopped. Three men came from in front of him, five behind him. "Well, if it isn't little Jeevas," one of the men said.

Matt frowned and got out a cigarette and lighter. "Yeah. What's it to you?" he asked, casually lighting the cigarette.

"Don't you remember us, Mail?" another man asked. "You used to make our guns and weapons." Matt closed his eyes and smoked the cigarette.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me," he murmured.

A dark haired man came forward. "Jeevas, we don't want anyone ending up hurt. We're just asking for you to make some more weapons, like the old times. We'll pay you, if you want," he said.

Matt shook his head. "Why would I make you more weapons after you killed all those innocent people with the original ones I gave you?" he asked.

"You didn't seem to care about them," one of the men reminded.

Matt sighed again. "Things have changed since then. I won't do it," he refused.

Another man frowned. "Looks like we'll 'ave to take 'im by force, then," he said. The pack nodded in agreement and moved closer to Matt.

Matt looked at the plastic bag in his arm full of chocolate and settled it down beside him. "Is this really a fair amount of numbers, gentlemen?" he asked with a smile. The men ignored him. Matt shrugged to himself. "All right. I could be unfair too, if that's what you want." Then Matt pulled his shirt up an inch or two, revealing two guns in there holsters attached to his belt. He took them out quickly, one in each hand, and shot the two nearest men in the head. They fell to the floor, dead. This alarmed the men and they charged at Matt.

_Oh dear,_ Matt thought, then ducked from the first punch. He spotted the nearest trashcan and got on it. From there, he jumped on a man as though he was getting a piggyback ride from him. Matt started shooting from there as the man he was one was struggling to get him off. Matt scowled at how much the man was moving, so he put both guns to the man's forehead and pulled both triggers at the same time.

Finally, everyone that had come was lying on the floor, dead. Matt looked into both his guns and saw that he ran out of bullets. Still with the cigarette in his mouth, Matt placed the guns back in their holsters. Then he bent down to retrieve the bag of chocolates, which had somehow managed to survive the shooting. "Hope I didn't get any blood on me," he said to himself. He was about to walk away when he heard a gun load right behind him. He felt the gun against the back of his head.

"Impressive, Mail," a voice said from behind him.

Matt froze. _That voice...could it be..._? "K-Kazuya...?" he stuttered.

Kazuya chuckled. "So you _do_ remember me, then," he said in a humored tone.

"You're still alive?" Matt whispered. "I thought...I mean...that gunshot...it looked fatal..."

Kazuya sighed. "You weren't sorry for me, of course," he said. "If I died, it would mean that you would finally have to stop making us weapons. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were relieved."

"Kazuya..." Matt started.

"Did I give you permission to talk, Jeevas?" Kazuya asked as he got out a knife and held it in front of Matt's neck, gun still against his head. Matt gulped and slightly shook his head. Kazuya smirked. "I didn't think so," he said. "Anyway, Jeevas. You see these bodies all around us? Well, you should know that I knew you would kill them. That's why I sent them instead of the actual pack."

Matt's eyes widened behind his goggles. Kazuya continued, "So Mail. Whaddya say? What the men said earlier was true. I miss it back when we used to work together. Back like old times. How 'bout it?" His voice was convincing, but Matt still shook his head. Kazuya sighed. "What a pain in the ass you turned out to be," he said. "Do I have to start threatening to kill your friends too? I know where they live, you know. Got my guys stationed there, ready to kill."

"You're bluffing," Matt growled.

"You wish," Kazuya said.

Matt closed his eyes and breathed in calmly. "Fine," he said. "I'll go with you. Let me just tell my friend that I'm leaving so he won't be suspicious." Kazuya nodded and took the weapons away from Matt. Matt turned around so he could face Kazuya. He noticed alot of changes since he'd last seen him. Kazuya's black hair was covering one of his eyes, and he added red highlights to it. He was wearing a black jacket and black jeans. Kazuya glared at him with dark brown eyes, waiting for him to call. Matt sighed and took out his phone.

"Matt, where've you been?" Mello asked after the first few rings. "Sorry, but all the stores were closed at this time," Matt apologized. Mello sighed. "No, it's alright," he said. Matt bit his lip. "Um, Mells? I know this is sorta a last minute thing, but I ran into my uncle. I haven't seen him in, like, forever, and he just offered for me to go on a vacation with him and my two cousins. Can I go?" he asked.

"Matt, you're an orphan. Why do you still have an uncle?" Mello asked suspiciously.

Matt started to sweat a little. "Well, you see, my aunt abandoned them a while back. He offered for me to stay with him after my parents died, but he was already struggling with his own kids. I didn't want to burden him," he made up quickly.

Mello was silent for a moment. Then he sighed. "It's alright, Matt. You could go," he said.

"Thanks!" Matt said. "Kay, then, I'll talk to ya later! Bye!" Once he hung up the phone, he put it in his pocket and closed his eyes. "Let's go," he said quietly, and followed Kazuya to their destination.


End file.
